Should Barry Bonds have to forfeit his titles due to steroid use? Ignorance is no excuse for cheating.?

Question

Bond's was a scrawny little imp while on the A's. It's impossible to get that big during one off season without taking steroids. Bottom line is, he sucked before. Now he's better due to illegal drugs. If thats not cheating then what is?

Answer 1

I don't believe Barry Bonds when he says that he didn't know what he was taking was steroids. So he can't plead ignorance. If they don't strip him of some home runs then the Hall Of Fame should lock the door and throw away the key.

Answer 2

Barry Bonds gets a bad rap. The media hates him because he doesn't like talking to the media (wow, I wonder why?) So the media goes out of its way to single him out for abuse. Face it, most of the league is just as guilty as Barry.

And also, you're completely wrong to say he "sucked" before he bulked up. He was just a great leadoff hitter instead of a great slugger. Barry Bonds has always been a great hitter. Why? Because steroids or no steroids, he is one of the very best hitters in the history of the game.

And no, I'm a Padres fan and not a Giants fan, I just think Bonds gets treated unfairly. And trust me, Bonds is a saint compared to most of the other players who were as dominant as he is (like Ty Cobb and Ted Williams).

Answer 3

Was'nt fair to the other players? More than half the MLB is suspected of using some type of steroid. Using steroids was and is still the norm, now they just use HGH. Bonds shouldn't be punished unless you are going to punish every player from the early 1990s until now.

Answer 4

I've see that Pete Rose has gotten mentioned in a lot of the answers and I think his situation is very instructive in this situation.
When Bart Giamatti made Rose an offer he couldn't refuse , Rose took it because he clearly realized that it was the lesser of two evils.
Allan H. Selig -hey it's what's on a baseball- clearly doesn't have enough damning information on Bonds to make a similiar offer and have him accept it.
So Bonds is going to get his record and MLB is powerless to stop it.
Bonds will spend the rest of his days as a pariah But he wont care. He will have his prize.

Answer 5

If they can prove that he used performance enchancing drugs after they officially became illegal in 2004, then his career Homerun records should not be recognized.

His single season HR and walks records came prior to that ruling, therefore, he did not cheat and should not retroactively be punished.

If they never prove he took anything AFTER 2004 that was under the MLB policy, then why should his records be erased simply because of popular opinion?

With so many wild accusations and rumors flying about, I wouldn't even doubt it if some MLB heroes like Cal Ripken took HGH to stay healthy. Are you going to say that his consecutive game streak should be wiped away too?

Since there is no way of knowing how many people have ever taken steroids, or used corked bats, or used pin tar, spit balls or anything that is considered cheating, then you cannot justifyably single out one person or a handful of people.

And yes, while it is regrettable that he did use illegal substances (in terms of breaking a law), that's nothing compared to, oh, I don't know, Drunk Driving Tony LaRussa.

Answer 6

Heck yeah! I don't, however, think it is fair that they single him out knowing full well that there are many, many others on steroids.

But I do think it's time to make an example out of somebody. Steroids are illegal. Period. So is meth. What's the difference? Why is one better than the other? There are millions of kids out there watching these athletes and they are very much influenced by everything they say and do. I think someone needs to show these kids that drugs are not okay under ANY circumstances.

Answer 7

Barry Bonds would have had a 'hall of fame'-calibre career even if he had never cheated. However, his records are mostly meaningless in the context of baseball history. There is simply no good way to compare his career performance with the performances of players who didn't engage in cheating.

Barry Bonds' titles should stand in the record books, but with an asterisk besides them (which is how baseball indicates that a statistic is disputed for certain reasons).

It is ironic that Pete Rose is barred from baseball and the hall of fame for activities that (according to major league baseball itself) had absolutely no effect on any games, whild Barry Bonds is not, even though his cheating had a direct effect on the outcomes of many games.

Answer 8

If we say that his records should be "tainted" or have an "asterik", what do we do about the pitchers in the Hall of Fame that used spit balls or sandpaper or pine tar? If you punish one player from the "Steroid Era" you must punish all of them. Everyone knew McGwire was on steroids when he hit 70 HRs. No one has put an asterik by his name but the Maris family. Giambi admitted (sort of) steroid use, but he's never criticized and you never see asteriks by any of the HR's he hit while he was juiced. Bonds should not have to forefit anything, he earned it.

Answer 9

uhhh no. maybe you should follow bonds more closely or at least research him more before making such a harsh statement. there were a crap load of other players who were doping... some we know about and some we dont. i bet plenty of players who have broken records and achieved greatness through history used steroids so it isnt fair to single out barry just because he's being hounded by the media about it. im a diehard giants fan and i know a lot of bay area fans are behind barry too... but if it is actually proven that he did use steriods he'll lose a great deal of respect. until then... he's still a great player in my book.

Answer 10

Sorry, but Barry didn't play with the A's, he played with Pittsburgh. Do you know for a fact that he used steroids? Neither do the jerks at The Chronicle Newspaper. They finally gave up their "source" but still no proof. Also, his best friend Anderson has spent plenty of time in jail for nothing...it's almost like they're forcing him to say something to implicate Barry. Even I wouldn't do that for a friend. I like my freedom too much!